English 
Italian Importanza dello screening per il deficit di G6PD durante l’emergenza COVID-19
Screening for G6PD deficit during COVID-19 emergency
AUTORI
1Dipartimento di Fisiopatologia medico-chirurgica e dei trapianti, Università degli Studi di Milano
2Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e Biotecnologie Mediche - DAI - Medicina di Laboratorio e Trasfusionale - AOU Federico II - CEINGE - Biotecnologie Avanzate, Napoli
ABSTRACT
Screening for G6PD deficit during COVID-19 emergency
Hydroxychloroquine, a well known anti-malaria drug, is now widely used in the early treatment of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Since chloroquine and its derivatives may cause an acute hemolytic crisis in subjects with glucose 6-phoshpate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, with different penetrance in men and in women, we recommend that: a) before using these drugs, especially in elderly subjects, the G6PD catalytic activity should be quantitatively estimated; b) all the G6PD deficient subjects treated with chloroquine and its derivatives have to be characterized at molecular level, in order to identify G6PD deficient subjects in their families; c) to be on the safe side, the use of hydoxycholoroquine or chloroquine in carriers of severe G6PD deficiency, and infected by SARS-CoV-2, should be avoided; if treated, the patients should be alerted on the possible hemolytic risks, and care should be paid to the best laboratory indicators of such episodes (whole blood cell count, serum bilirubin, serum LDH, and hemoglobinuria).